Microsoft waves goodbye to backward compatibility

[anuseems]

Microsoft thinks Windows 8.1 will fix everything. Ha! What it fails to recognise is that Windows 8 was never the problem. Im more and more convinced that PC sales continue to plummet because people have learned from Windows 7 that Microsoft has given up on backward compatibility.

My Olympus PEN camera will not connect to my Windows 7 machine for whatever reason and Im getting tired of the incompatibilities. It all began with my Epson RX700 printer, a perfectly good all-in-one printer. Too bad I had to scrap it because it will not work with Windows 7. I dont like my new printer, an Epson Artisan 810, nearly as much. In fact, its so clunky that Im looking to replace it as soon as possible. But this is not a review of printers. Suffice it to say, Windows backward compatibility has taken a back seat at the company.

After the printer fiasco and with no new drivers on the horizon, the reliable RX700 is an orphan. Then comes my trusty Cisco NAS. I dont know how old it is but it works fine with XP and Vista. Windows 7? No way.

I did some research on the NAS problems with Windows 7 and surprise surprise the web is full of complaints. Windows 7 has all sorts of problems with devices on the network. This seems to stem from security concerns. Yes, the best security is to make it so nothing works. Genius!

After digging around I found a nice registry patch that I installed. It worked or it kind of worked. When the PC goes into sleep mode, it stops working immediately and the machine has to be rebooted to get it to work again.

Maintaining the state of the machine when sleep mode is entered has been a never-ending problem with Windows. Is this problem unsolvable? Just today the reboot didnt work at all and the NAS drive is offline again. It requires a password but wont accept the password set for the device.

Who wants to deal with this rubbish? My main computer is still a Vista machine and Im not interested in Windows 8. Im sure that somewhere along the line the one guy or gal who cared about legacy gear running on Windows quit the company and everyone else uses a Mac.

Essentially, what you learn when you upgrade is that you cannot keep anything you had before. Cameras, NAS drives, printers all are worthless. Im sure I have a lot of gear that will not work with Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. No wonder nobody wants to upgrade.

And more interestingly, what exactly are Windows 7 and 8 doing so differently from XP and Vista that the same drivers no longer work? Its not as if Windows 7 or 8 are revolutionary changes in the scheme of all things Windows. Both appear to be Window dressing upgrades.

There is no excuse for this.

@ http://www.itproportal.com/2013/06/26/microsoft-waves-goodbye-to-backward-compatibility/

Edited September 12, 2013 by anuseems

[psyko666]

Me just waves back to Microsoft... :uhuh:

[DKT27]

Moved to Software Chat, the article was written on 26 Jun 2013 so hardly news.

While the author mentions some good points, there are a lot of holes in what he has written.

[locoJoe]

I have never had any of the problems he talks about with Win7.(I cant speak for Win8 tho, never used it) Ive got many legacy devices that work 100% on Win7 plus an extra bonus, most dont need drivers disks any longer because Win7 already has the drivers built in. As far as sleep mode goes :wtf: , I use it everyday with no problems. And IMHO the statement below is total BS. :shit:

Essentially, what you learn when you upgrade is that you cannot keep anything you had before. Cameras, NAS drives, printers all are worthless.

Anyways.......................gl have fun

Edited September 12, 2013 by locoJoe

[ricktendo]

Something tells me that some of what you say is user error.

[stylemessiah]

Sheesh, ive gotten a decade old logitech webcam (which logitech simply sadi wouldnt work on Windows Vista/7) installed and working 100%

Ive gotten plenty of legacy hardware working 100% under Vista/7, usually its no harder than running the installer under compatability mode

Certainly a printer that was made in 2005 is almost garaunteed to work under both Vista/7 and the user is most likely to blame here, especially as going to:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=58608&infoType=Downloads

reveals that theres drivers for this printer up to and including Windows 8 :)

As for the Olympus PEN camera, there are drivers for up to and including Windows 7 here:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_downloads_updater.asp

As for Cisco, well getting into their support pages needs registration, but ill bet theres a resolution there

So im 2/3 at debunking your post....

If you want to have a whinge at Microsoft, feel free, ill even join you, just have your facts straight before you do

OP: How about you check the printers/cameras/NAS's support page before creating a redundant thread :)

Edited September 13, 2013 by stylemessiah

[ricktendo]

How about posting the hardware id's of the stuff you say does not work, then I could find the drivers

Edited September 13, 2013 by ricktendo

[truemate]

may be or sure some Mac user written this funny article

Remember one thing windows was best it is best and it will be da Best

and abt that Olympus camera.. this flop camera company.. use canon.

i have Canon Eos and it works perfectly with windows 7 without need to install any driver

Edited September 13, 2013 by truemate

[cyberber]

First let me say that legacy drivers is not the responsibility of Microsoft rather than the manufactures who build the hardware.

Second you don't go into details what type of machine you have is it a x32 or x64 bit machine and how much memory you have the only thing you do is bitch against Microsoft.

And Finally never compare WinXp or Vista with Windows 7 or 8 they are far more advanced & superior to the first set of OS.

[MidnightDistortions]

I got an HP Deskjet 6122 model that doesn't work with x32 of Windows 7 although i haven't checked recently but it is mostly the manufacture's responsibility but if no one else requests it then i guess they won't bother to. Part of the problem stems to the fact that XP users have not left XP yet thus is probably the reason there is no updated drivers for certain hardware. Anyway W7 is pretty good overall. W98 and XP didn't really have good video codecs for watching video. I had to install a codec pack in order to play back some of my videos. Vista fixed that problem for me, i had stored some of the videos i couldn't play back even with the codec pack and Vista had no problem. Even synced properly with the audio. I don't like W8 but i pretty much speak for anyone who doesn't like it and feels forced to stay with XP. If i had to use W8 it would probably be after MS releases a new one but if i feel W9 is as good or better than W7 then i'll probably find a cheap machine running an older version of Windows and upgrade that just to have it. Not bothering with W8.1 either but again that mostly stems on the fact MS isn't really helping XP users much. Other then the printer, that's the only problem i have. And i don't upgrade, i make sure i have the existing OS that works with everything before migrating to it. I too want things to last i don't really need to have any more desktops laying around my place either i already have 5 of them. I just have one working laptop. One of the desktops tho i plan to convert into a hard drive diagnostic machine (plus to run SpinRite) since it works both with IDE and SATA and i can get rid of 2 of the desktops that are from '95.

The printer is kind of an annoying factor since you probably need to be connected to the internet possibly for secure stuff but in any case why don't u just set up a dual PC center and see if Linux would work with your printer (altho i probably doubt it would work)? My printer is 11 years old so once i am unable to find printer ink for cheap i don't even remember where i bought the ink replacements from but eventually that thing is going to croak anyway.

[LeeSmithG]

Moved to Software Chat, the article was written on 26 Jun 2013 so hardly news.

While the author mentions some good points, there are a lot of holes in what he has written.

Could you index and cross reference the holes you've found please.

Might be an interesting read.